The Parliament of Georgia voted on, and approved the draft Resolution of the Parliament of Georgia "On the 2021 Report of the Performance of the National Bank of Georgia", presented to the legislative authority by Koba Gvenetadze, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia.

The report of the National Bank of Georgia includes an overview of monetary, exchange rate and supervisory policies and audited financial statements.

Koba Gvenetadze's report began with an overview of the priority areas that the Central Bank of the country was guided by during the reporting period.

"As you know, safeguarding price stability is the focal task of the National Bank of Georgia. In addition, the NBG must ensure the stability and transparency of the financial system, while promoting sustainable economic growth of the country so as not to jeopardize the enactment of its main mandate. Price stability in itself implies the existence of a level of inflation in the medium term that is optimal for high and sustainable economic growth in the long run. This is what central banks are about, and this is also how they differ from other government agencies: in making decisions and implementing policies, they have their long-term results and effectiveness in mind," said Koba Gvenetadze.

The Georgian Central Bank leader spoke at length about the underlying global challenges and the economic impact of the pandemic.

"Inflation is high. I see very clearly the hardships that our citizens are going through and I absolutely understand that inflation is a heavy burden for consumers. However, I also want to explain to them that today we are talking not only about our country, but about the whole world, the impact of global shocks and crises. Warranting price stability has become a global challenge against the backdrop of successive shocks that have developed over the years. Global inflation today is considered the most significant challenge in the reviews of international economic organizations. Georgia is no exception in this regard: we are dealing with this big challenge as well," said Koba Gvenetadze.

Governor Gvenetadze empnasized the role of the National Bank of Georgia in the development of the financial market. He noted, that the National Bank of Georgia is developing various supervisory techniques, thereby helping create the basic infrastructure for Fintech actions. "As the financial sector has a greater share of innovations and a larger number of innovative organizations, both new opportunities and new risks are emerging. At the same time the financial sector remains the most regulated sector of the economy worldwide. Moreover, the regulation trend is growing. The National Bank of Georgia is one of the flagship institutions, which promotes the introduction of innovations and technologies in the financial sector. These do not serve commercial purposes, but are there to provide more innovative services to the citizens and help develop various fields of technology. During 2021 we continued to work vigorously on Open Banking issues. After the first stage of Open Banking was successfully implemented, from March 31, 2021, the exchange of information between commercial banks through Open Banking became available," Koba Gvenetadze noted.

The National Bank of Georgia continues working on consumer rights protection. Koba Gvenetadze spoke about the actions taken at the plenary session of the Parliament: "Protecting the rights and interests of bank customers is one of the main goals of the National Bank of Georgia. In its role as a banking regulator, the NBG regulates the banking sector in such a way as to protect the customers, the citizens, in dealing with financial institutions. The National Bank of Georgia has taken a number of important steps in this regard in 2021 as well as in previous years.

It is important to note that the achievements of the National Bank of Georgia are highly regarded by both local and international reputable organizations. In recognition of successful work, effective policies and decisions, the National Bank of Georgia has received a number of awards. The US State Department commended the work of the NBG in the report on the investment environment of Georgia in July 2022. "The National Bank of Georgia and financial institutions in Georgia operate in full compliance with the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation by the United States of America and other countries. Compliance with international financial sanctions is regularly monitored during on-site inspections of financial institutions," states the report. "These evaluations and the awards received by the National Bank of Georgia in the recent period are especially important in the period of post-pandemic and geopolitical challenges and reaffirm the accuracy of the policy pursued by the National Bank of Georgia. Of course, the team of professionals working at the National Bank of Georgia deserves compliments for this", - said Koba Gvenetadze.

"There is no doubt that 2021 was quite a difficult year. We made many decisions during this period: we worked on reforms, started some, announced others, and all are important and great achievements not only for the NBG, but for the financial sector as a whole. I would like to take this opportunity to once again convey my gratitude to the team of the NBG professionals. Please be convinced that the team of the NBG professionals is doing and will do their utmost, considering the levers we have, to ease the burden of high inflation to the society, resulting from the recent shocks", said Koba Gvenetadze.

After presenting the report, the NBG Governor answered the questions of the MP’s.